From today’s Telegraph: Central banks are trying to calm jitters by pouring billions of dollars into money markets to increase liquidity. Last week another $200 billion was dropped into the system. That was quickly swallowed up amidst screams for yet more emergency injections. Debt junkies, like heroin addicts, demand ever bigger fixes. And this brings …

We keep watching an interest rate tweaked here, a program enacted there, and know that what is being done will not "save the markets"- housing or otherwise. Minyanville this morning though, offered this rather sane observation: The problem is liquidity, solvency, and something more: faith. No one wants to buy the bonds, SIV’s etc etc …

A big hat tip to The Big Picture for this laugh of the day: Standard & Poor’s cut some of its credit ratings on investment bank Bear Stearns Friday following news of the bank’s cash crisis and emergency bailout. S&P cut its long-term counterparty rating on Bear Stearns to "BBB" from "A" and its short-term …

From CNBC this morning: Bear Stearns said its financial situation had "significantly deteriorated" during the past 24 hours and is receiving short-term financing from JP Morgan Chase to shore up confidence in its operations. J.P. Morgan will provide a secured loan facility for an initial period of up to 28 days, allowing Bear Stearns to …

From Sunday’s Wall Street Journal: Prices have dropped since last year when Greg Sax bought his St. Paul, Minn., home. But the 37-year-old first-time home buyer still feels lucky he made the move when he did. He was able to finance his purchase with no money down. And after talking with real-estate professionals in his …

It was a bad day for the credit markets today: [Hat tip John!] The credit markets came under renewed stress Thursday as investors sought absolute safety and even moved away from debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage lending enterprises. The intensifying credit crisis came as one regulator, Timothy F. Geithner, …

The Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, had an idea for lenders this morning: “Lenders tell us that they are reluctant to write down principal,” Bernanke said. “They say that if they were to write down the principal and house prices were to fall further, they could feel pressured to write down principal again.” The Fed chairman …

Boston has been feeling the impact of rising foreclosures and abandoned homes. Now they want the owners to pay: [Thanks L!] City officials are lining up an arsenal of new tax penalties and stronger regulations to help rid the Hub of the abandoned and foreclosed properties that are blighting neighborhoods as a result of the …

James Lockhart of the OFHEO announced that as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now filing timely statements, there would be some changes: The federal regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said on Wednesday it would lift an investment cap for the mortgage companies, in a move that will give them more flexibility to …